If you live in L.A. and have writer friends connected to the TV world, you\u2019ve likely heard phrases like \u201cdiversity hire\u201d bandied about by well-off white-dude acquaintances more times that you can count. If you live <\/span>anywhere<\/span><\/i> and have <\/span>zero<\/span><\/i> friends connected to the TV world, you\u2019ve still probably been present for an uncomfortable #MeToo-focused conversation over the family dinner table, highlighting a bit of an often generational divide that doesn\u2019t seem to be closing anytime soon. Clearly the time is ripe for a sharp workplace comedy that gets to the heart of some of these beyond-hot topics. Unfortunately, <\/span>Late Night<\/i><\/strong> is not that film. <\/span><\/p>\n Inspired by writer-actress Mindy Kaling\u2019s own experiences as a \u201cdiversity hire\u201d on NBC\u2019s <\/span>The Office<\/span><\/i>, the film takes aim at the boys\u2019 club that is late-night television, as well as the women who are complicit in reinforcing it. Set in an alternate universe where a woman \u2014 Emma Thompson\u2019s character, Katherine Newbury \u2014 has actually managed to land a coveted job as a late-night host on one of the major networks (remember, in the year 2019, this is still <\/span>very much<\/span><\/i> a fantasy), Kaling\u2019s character, Molly, is introduced to us as an aspiring comedian who manages, through a mix of fortuitous timing and a bit of ingenuity, to land a coveted spot as a staff writer in New York City. <\/span><\/p>\n Unfortunately, the film stumbles a bit in its characterization of Molly, and that\u2019s in good part due to Kaling\u2019s script. The self-deprecating tone she often took on <\/span>The Mindy Project<\/span><\/i> just doesn\u2019t serve her as well here. After all, getting a job as a staff writer is no mean feat even if you are a hard-working, highly qualified, very funny person with decent connections, so the script\u2019s decision to underline Molly\u2019s background as a \u201cfactory worker\u201d feels misguided \u2014 especially when it devotes so little time to what appears to be her character\u2019s actually somewhat robust background in standup. She\u2019s not hitting barely attended open-mic nights, when we actually see her work: She\u2019s emceeing what appears to be a sold-out comedy benefit in a decently sized theater, and she clearly knows how to work a crowd. <\/span>She\u2019s put in the work.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n It\u2019s also hard to highlight Molly\u2019s journey when the great Emma Thompson is such a powerhouse as Katherine, a dismissive, workaholic, sharp-tongued comedian who is facing a bit of a personal crisis in her show\u2019s 17th season. Thompson is so good at conveying the pain and humiliation her character feels as she\u2019s confronted with the possibility that her tenure at her own show may be coming to an end. <\/span>Late Night with Katherine Newbury<\/span><\/i> has gotten stale and formulaic, and it\u2019s little surprise, given that she\u2019s got a writing staff comprised solely of white dudes with Ivy League backgrounds and a whole lot of entitlement. Katherine is wary to connect with her audience or share much of herself with her viewers, and the network \u2014 led by a cold executive played with gusto by Amy Ryan \u2014 has decided it\u2019s time to force her out and bring in a suitable, more \u201crelevant\u201d (read: Dane Cook-lite) replacement.<\/span><\/p>\n Directed by Nisha Ganatra, the film is nicely paced and engaging, and there\u2019s a lot of fun to be had, especially where the homogeneous bro culture of the writers\u2019 room is concerned. The supporting cast really delivers, and Kaling\u2019s script nails the romantic subplot featuring Hugh Dancy\u2019s alterna-comedy-dude character. I don\u2019t want to spoil anything there, but that all felt refreshingly true to life, and I suspect it got a few of us thinking about who the real-life inspiration could have been (we have suspects). On a similar note, the film\u2019s denouement is sweet and subtle, offering up a happy ending without overshadowing the female empowerment narrative. Ultimately, however, Late Night<\/em> (much like the tepid shows it\u2019s skewering) just doesn\u2019t have the bite or the might we need in 2019. <\/span><\/p>\n If you live in L.A. and have writer friends connected to the TV world, you\u2019ve likely heard phrases like \u201cdiversity […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":568,"featured_media":11963,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1381,340],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movies","category-movie-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/568"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11962\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Grade: C+<\/span><\/h3>\n
1 hr., 42 min.; rated R for language throughout and some sexual references<\/em><\/h5>\n
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